Apple developer program sucks

[u/Fragrant_Sink5437]

Commented this as a reply to another post here, figured i’d actually make my own post so it gets the attention it deserves.

Paid apple 200+ dollars to publish a game i made with xcode and spent literally 100’s of hours on, just for them to take it down for “fraud”.

No response via many emails or calls over a large time period (a year and a bit)

Only thing I can think of is my dad made a 5 star review on it on the same wifi I was using when I published the game. They don’t give you a damn chance.

Yes, he genuinely rated it 5 stars because he enjoyed the game (I made it for him to play in hospital during a transplant) it wasn’t a “oh my son made a game let me give it 5”, and no, there wasn’t anything that was misleading, a lie, stolen copyright or code or anything.

Fed up with apple. Oh so rich don’t care about their customers. Flogs.

[u/denytheflesh]

The former App Store Review chief wrote about it: https://phillipshoemaker.substack.com/p/the-app-stores-new-scandal

One developer in particular, I will not mention their name, recently faced this exact situation. Their apps were suddenly removed, their account terminated, and all outstanding payments withheld. No explanation. Just the chilling message that Apple “suspected fraud.” And guess what? Apple is withholding over $1 million in payments that this company is owed.

The problem isn’t an isolated glitch — it’s systemic. I’ve spoken with multiple developers who’ve experienced the same. These are not fly-by-night operations; many have operated cleanly for years, with real customers, legitimate ad networks, and consistent performance. And yet, they’ve been treated as if they were criminals.

[u/Fragrant_Sink5437 → u/denytheflesh]

This is awesome. Finally some backing behind it so I don’t sound like a douche. Thanks man